This project was funded as a Phase I contract by the NCI Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program in response to funding announcement number 272 "Point of Care Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells for Cancer Diagnostics, Prognosis, and Treatment."Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that shed from either the primary tumor or its metastases and are circulating in the peripheral blood. While metastases are directly responsible for the majority of cancer deaths, CTCs may constitute seeds for metastases and are instrumental for the spread of the disease. Therefore the development of CTC-related applications is very important.